the building trades, the laborers, everyone here, our former partners mayor. thank you. i now welcome you to a light reception. thank you very much. sorry, i forgot the most important part. we are going to break down. we are going to do this. [ applause ] [ cheering and applauding ] [ cheering and are going to do this.

thank you everyone for being here. i'm with the neighborhood development corporation. it is my pleasure to be able to greet you and welcome you to the grand opening of kelly's community. as i was walking in here someone said this is over-the-top. while the name maybe on the title, this is really not owned by cnbc, this is a community access. we are nearly the stewards of it. i want to thank the opportunity to thank some of the people and the institution who came together to bring this project to fruition and first and

foremost leader nancy pelosi. hundreds of construction jobs and dozens of permanent jobs came about because of the stimulus funds in this project. this would not have happened without that and we want to express our gratitude to our great leader. the california tax committee and it's great leader, bill is here, stand up, bill. please. [ applause ] >> bill is a great public

servant. a number of other groups really were critical to the $95 million we needed to generate to renovate this building. the department of housing and community development, the mental house services division and especially that california housing agency. the federal home loan bank through its federal housing program administered and brought to us by silicone valley bank. and the coordination of supportive housing was special supporters. i want to thank jonathan. [ applause ] . those corporations for supportive housing were social and innovation fund grants and put that together nationwide with one of four projects

across the country to be awarded funding through the social conservation fund. thank you jonathan. we have a very special partner, the marry's office is part of every single project that cbc undertakes and in this case the san francisco department of public health is a crucial key part of the project and they will be providing projects for 15 years and beyond. barbara garcia, are you here? thank you barbara. and i would like to thank one very special person. anyone involved in the project knows what who this is? mark, where are you? [ applause ] i think it was 7 years ago that

mark conceived this vision and it really was a vision and he offered leadership for most of the last 7 years solving hundreds of thousands of problems in order to lead the way. so thank you, martin. this community asset exemplifies 3 areas. it was built in 1910 and we have restored it. it helps make explicit the link between homelessness and shows that housing variable income people is not nearly humane and dignified. it's smart public policy. it is less expensive to keep people housed than to allow them to remain homeless. this is one social problem we actually know how to solve and

all it requires is a will to do it, supportive housing work. with that. thank you. [ applause ] thank you. it's my pleasure to introduce the mayor of san francisco ed lee. [ applause ] >> good morning, everybody. let's me just add my brief congratulations to cnbc, to this wonderful leadership and just a few words of appraise for everybody who has worked so hard to make this 172 unit project come to conclusion and open this incredible center we are in. we are in this

fantastic auditorium. we have the atrium. we have it restored and the physical structure we surfaced and all for one purpose. you know, when i became mayor 2 years ago, i asked myself the question, the same question i know brother kelly asked when he first stepped in to provide his leadership into this community. something i know done and so many others who have worked together, bob garcia and others, how do we bring hope to this city? how do you make sure that we are not just doing the ropes, that we are not building the bricks and mortars but improving the quality of life they have. this project represents that. it began so

well with the spirit and the leadership of leader pelosi when she tapped into our monies and provided the additional amount of money. look what it did? it brought so many other institutions an agencies together to figure it out and the housing advocates, homeless advocates together to say that we can bring hope to this community and make sure this project represented all that. this is what brother kelly was all about. he is to me almost the saint frances of the tenderloin because it was his spirit that had this project. we had everybody's participation to make sure this was done right and well. this is the way we think of quality

lives for housing people who both have the alternatives and also, not only housing them, but providing them with the services that they can live and dignify in life because it's never been about the brick and mortars. in this city it's about living with dignity. this is what san francisco is about. i don't care if i'm in ireland or paris france or back here in san francisco. it's about the quality of life we want to live and the greatness of this city we love to represent. this project does it all and it does it with so many partners who have come together to make it happen and to play in their roles in a concerted effort to say 172 people's lives are about to get the kind of experience that many of us who came to san francisco want. this quality of life, linking

the san francisco can be a challenge for many people. the people who live here are the very people with probably know and have seen on the corners. on the tenderloin, the market, hope street. we know their names. we know they didn't want to just go to another sro or be treated from shelter to shelter. they needed the support. the help, the support here, the gymnasium, the beauty of this building, this incredible goal that we have to house the homeless in a most dignified way. i think a lot about this project as i go through and talk about the staff, talk about the director of hope, talk about where people's lives can be changed

whether they are living in sunny veil or this valley and this is where we put all of our values together and take care of people. taking care of people that we are all about here in the center. it's going to be the motto, the grand model for years and years to come. that we'll show case this to everybody, saying, you don't to have just build sro or build shelters. you can build quality housing so they can transform their lives and see themselves as citizens of san francisco. this is what it's all about and i will continue to thank leader pelosi for it. any other she's

battle ---ing battles and it's time this country ends discrimination and we are ending it right here as well. everything we do here is also saying, we take away barriers and prevented from quality living for homeless. this is just another great great opportunity to help people here. i know everyone who has touched this from housing advocates, to the developers to the architects, working their magic to the contractors whose jobs were tapped at the beginning, who said we are going to get this project done as an example hoff -- how we use recovery funds to the very

people today celebrating their lives who have moved in. i want to thank everybody for their wonderful contribution, for their could -- coordination of this. let's continue to do this work for san francisco. [ applause ] >> we would like to this you for your continued leadership. thanks for celebrating and there is more to come in the great city of san francisco. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> before i introduce the next speaker just for fun. how many people here were members of this? raise your hand. this building has been a part of the fabric of san francisco for a

hundred years. louis brown, senator -- from the locker room and frederick kelly had one of his first offices here at the y. please welcome shawn williams. [ applause ] >> good morning. this is amazing. i really didn't expect all of this myself. i would just like to say, well, i was like one of the first ones to move in here a few months back

and born and raised here in san francisco. i really didn't know that i would be able to have a place of my own. especially with the background i have. i have been a drug addict and alcoholic and going in and out of jail through the years. i have been homeless since 1999. and in 2010 i was diagnosed with 2 types of illnesses, one that can kill quicker than the other and then in 2011 i got out of jail and i have been trying to live my life. i ended up being in a transitional

hotel and that kind of changed everything just a little bit for everything because i was going through a lot. i got tired of being homeless. and things started to turn around also but it was all for better roses. i had some heart aches while i was there and then i came to kelly. it was very important. the people that came all the way up to everybody here, they have been very helpful and supportive in everything i did and doing here. and i'm just -- i

[ applause ] >> i'm just so grateful that i have this opportunity to finally have a place that i can really lay my head. at 47 right now, i really haven't had a place to call my own. this is my first real place that i can really say is mine. and every time i wake up in the middle of the night and i still do it now and i look around the place, and i'm just taken back to where i was and where i have

been and also where i'm at today and it still blows me away because i didn't think i would have this opportunity. right now i would like to thank the people that made this move possible for me. my case manager. christian and i -- they were there when i needed them. and the people here, they are dynamite. [ applause ]

when i feel down or even if i just need a smile, i see the person at the front desk for that. and if i need any kind of support or anything, with my meds or anything that i need, they are here for me. you know with no questions asked. so it's very rare that you can come to a place where people really care about you. thank you, everybody. [ applause ]

>> welcome to the stage our supervisor jane kim. [ applause ] >> good morning. it's hard to follow after shawn and the mayor. about a year ago, for the first time, the mayor appointed me as acting mayor when he went on a trip. my office said, one thing about these 3 days of acting mayor of san francisco and we decided on my behalf that i would spend the night in the shelter. i went through the process throughout the day and ended up at the shelter that evening. i didn't think it was going to be hard for me, it wasn't hard for the reason i thought it would be. i thought it would be sad that i would see people at rock bottom where they would need to

find shelter for the night because so many of the support systems they needed weren't in place for them. what i think what was difficult for a different set of reasons and because i experienced that love and compassion and generosity and people reached out to me all evening asking me if i needed help and if i needed this and if i needed anything. i was truly touched by people who wanted to offer me the most. i want to combat homelessness. i say this is something in organizations like

cnbc and back and forth discussions. these are the ways that we worked to combat homelessness and about supporting an incredible institution here in this neighborhood. [ applause ] >> what i can say when we are here as you read the opening, i would make the call at the tenderloin a couple weeks ago, we did the ribbon cutting at the arlington hotel in 1908 in the city of san francisco. we have all the units in that building as well. one of the reasons i'm so honored to represent the district is that i believe we have the best residents and advocates and service providers and organizers. this is an amazing opportunity. this has allowed

for projects like this to happen today. i'm honored to be part of that legacy and will continue to fight for more stable housing in the neighborhood. thank you. [ applause ] one of the people who has been a part of this project -- since the day we hired her, supervisor -- [ applause ] this is fun, one of the historic ymca's that we have

had reconstructed. i'm really happy to be here today to thank many of you in this room and some that were able to join us today. there are hundreds, literally hundreds of people here to join us and i don't think we could have asked for a better partner. specifically i want to ask the team. please raise your hand. so many wonderful people and partners. and also the programs -- [inaudible]. [ applause ] the construction engineer gilbert chan. the designing

construction team took a building and made it sparkle. we also made the building adorable. at the same time meeting the high standards of the fire department, the mayor's office, and all the corners. [inaudible]. >> construction and legal council to be here. [ applause ] we needed to rethink our entire approach to this problem. thank you. the mission of san

francisco and financial support for renovation is truly remarkable. just the opportunity to provide supportive housing to the homeless. the added benefit and house of the opponents. when the city with so many people it's -- [inaudible] mark, and the entire job. [ applause ] long time support is exciting. another way to call affordable housing. it's designed to help

people who face the complex life -- to allow non-profits like cnbc to offer housing for homeless. we are demonstrating to people who live here, they are deserving. [ applause ] >> with the staff has also been amazing and i'm grateful to them. i want to thank the partners, and everybody. especially dana and thank you all very much. [ applause ]

we would like to thank the community for your support. we want to encourage everyone. thank you. [ applause ] >> i believe in the housing development and the biggest affordable house is renovation ever taken by the city of san francisco. the credits roll and roll. hundreds of people, that's what it takes. everybody contributed and everybody played an important role and we were all led by marlin --

[ applause ] everybody working with project knows how complicated it was and how difficult it was. the development team and activities staff, i have a gift to offer tomorrow. [ applause ] there are so many green --